If MOMA ever invited me to a show, I’ll remind them of the sculptural American Folk Art Museum they willfully tore down to build yet another bland accretion. How big does MOMA need to be? Like farting in a too tight space; I’m thankful not to live in NYC. Because the Folk Art Museum wasn’t that old, it didn’t deserve preservation? Bullshit! And MOMA’s architects who recommended its demolition will always carry the stain on their reputation. If your clients can’t see past their own ambitions, resign the commission; otherwise it’s your failing for not adequately making the case. We all make mistakes, but some are hard to ignore.

Evans’ Rag

Vol 1 Issue 29

Almost almost almost

I’m about finished editing Love in Winter Missing Ryan. I’m also almost finished with Kill Devil Come the Storm.

The reason writers look for editors is to get them through the pain of editing. One’s eyes can scan a text passing over the same missing word like it was never meant to be. After the twentieth time that the said writer has read the piece, it becomes nearly impossible to catch the out-of-place things an editor is eagle-eyed looking for, not to mention weak plot points and pointless digressions.

There used to be a great tradition of publishing houses pairing authors with editors–that’s largely history. There was a great tradition of an industry that’s largely shrunk to aiming for best sellers. I’m doing the best I can using editing software,
though I’m working to find a real editor.

Taking Photos in Public Places

Recently I read a piece in Medium by a writer who was urging people not to take pictures in public museum–of paintings and the like. Her annoyance was genuine if her argument was a bit misdirected, claiming that the practice of photography detracts from actually experiencing the moment. It distracted her enough to make her plea for forbearance.

I’ve witnessed the same thing, and yes, she has a point–to a point. As with a number of things people do in public, taking photos can seem as mindless as all that. My personal beef is with the tourists who need to include themselves in the frame.

Michelangelo’s David cannot be improved by your sloppy dress and cheesy grin. And no, I don’t own a selfie stick, already aware how sad a face I make without reminders. And I shoot with a Nikon–not an iPhone–because the combination of a good camera with good lenses produces better pictures.

The author even cites a study suggesting it works at cross purposes to one’s actual memory of the event. But my memory of the Cliffs of Moher on the west coast of Ireland is linked forever in attempts at taking pictures of the cliffs while keeping an eye on my ten-year old who liked wandering too close to the edge. Or the frustration at watching the late afternoon sun in Bellagio drop behind the mountains across Lake Como and realizing the evening light off the water only made for blue-tinted photographs. No vivid sun streaks across the lake–not like looking across Albemarle Sound in early evening.

As a practice, I shoot ‘light available,’ even when it’s not necessary–since flash is annoying to anyone nearby and not typically allowed in museums. I wish my camera were less noisy. And I try to take up unobtrusive positions, and wait until others are either not paying attention to me, or better, they walk away before attempting a landscape. (For the record you can’t take a good picture of the Mona Lisa–the damn security glass always catches reflections, though I did capture a decent shot of the Winged Victory of Samothrace taken on the stairs at the Louvre.)

Photography has always interested me. I took it up in high school as a hobby, and over the years, I’ve come to associate vacations as extended times to shoot. First, taking photos wasn’t a fulltime occupation and what spare time I had during the workweek was occupied with writing.

Whereas when traveling, particularly to new places, or places not frequently visited, I’m already in a mindset to focus on the surroundings–and since photography requires visualizing the shot before it’s taken, travels and photography just go hand in hand.

So I will apologize for ruining another’s zeitgeist in the Musée d'Orsay. Yes, I saw her scowling just feet away. And yes, I’ve taken lots of pictures that lots of others coming before me have already done. But, by damn, the photograph taken last April in the ruins of Herculaneum will be printed and framed shortly. Maybe.

Though one leg’s in Lindy’s camp–we’re all just tourists on this bus. 

If you missed the pictorial on Herculaneum last week, click on the photo below to view it.